The market was inflated to a fat bubble, but otherwise, it was a boom time for business and a budget surplus. Clinton could negotiate and compromise with Newt......that's what's changed. We now have self serving, ideologues who think nothing of shutting government down to get their way. They care about their reelection, then party, then country.

The GOP leadership need to get control of their party again and restore some sanity into the opposition.

Every politician is doing what they think it right for the country. This issue isn't about the politicians. It's about the voters. This got voted in the last time around when the people said "we had 4 years of this - let's elect 4 more years of this while we figure out what to do next."

That next comes in 2014. In the meantime, these guys are all going to stand by their ground and rightfully say that they're serving the people who elected them. Meanwhile, Obamacare is rolling out. Right now the question that is going to start being asked more and more is "is it ready for primetime," and "is it worth keeping the government shut down over a year delay of it."

I personally think that the Republicans will easily be able to defend the ground they've staked out given that context. Maybe not. Again, it really is going to depend on the people.